Tag Archives: Delmonas

A key inspiration for The Carrie Nation’s Revenge was, shockingly enough, The Carrie Nations from Russ Meyer’s Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. In the film the CN are a group of beautiful girls with a clutch of top tunes who are systematically destroyed by Hollywood and the psychopaths that inhabit it.

In truth I haven’t seen the film the whole way through, I had to turn off when it became clear where it was heading. Lars Von Trier’s Dancer in the Dark used up my tolerance for the ‘beautiful woman destroyed‘ genre but it was a catalyst for CNR.

With their Scooby Doo van and their off-screen adventures battling zombies and vampires and demon squids, I wanted a group that were themselves and would never be destroyed or diminished by the monster moguls and the monster men.

Their costumes were inspired by one of my favourite Brighton bands of the early 2000’s. The practically ungoogleable Phil Collins 3.

Before every gig they would construct increasingly elaborate themed costumes for themselves out of whatever they had lying around with no thought for things like ability to see, hold or indeed play their instruments. That has to be admired.

The CNR look was completely designed by John, my one contribution being this squiggle.

From which his genius fingers created this.

Sonically I had some impossible hybrid of the beyond awesome Delmonas and the beyond beyond awesome Le Tigre in my head.

And yes. We do have tunes for all the songs in Hitsville. We could sing/rap them all but we never will because the tunes in the readers imagination are better.